First contact is the start of the partial phases of a solar eclipse. Looking closely at the top left hand side of the sun, you can see the moon beginning to cover the cover the sun. During a total solar eclipse, the moon with continue its journey accross the solar disc until the sun is totally covered.

About Mark Sukhija

Mark Sukhija is a travel and wine blogger, photographer, tourism researcher, hat-touting, white-shirt-wearing, New Zealand fantatic and eclipse chaser. Aside from at least annual visits to New Zealand, Mark has seen eclipses in South Australia (2002), Libya (2006), China (2009) and Queensland (2012). After twelve years in Switzerland, Mark moved back to London in 2012. You can follow Mark on Twitter or Facebook